“Connect. Share. Contribute.” First CCOE Community of Interest Workshop in The Hague
The 2015 CCOE Community of Interest Workshop took place for the first time in CCOE premises in The Hague. It was conducted from 3rd to 5th February 2015. More than 60 participants from 21 nations, members from both civil and military organizations met in order to discuss contemporary development in the field of Civil-Military Interaction (CMI) and Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC). The motto of this workshop was: “Connect. Share. Contribute.”
During the introduction speech of the Director of the CCOE, the Dutch Colonel Roel Been, the new direction of the CCOE named “Vision 2020” as well as the future CCOE-Corporate Design were introduced to the audience.
The Syria conflict and the Ebola outbreak were the main topics of the workshop. Therefore distinguished speakers such as Ms. Simone Filippini from Cordaid Netherlands (key note), Brigadier General Kowitz from Military Medicine Centre of Excellence in Hungary and Ms. Katarina Andabak from Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium presented their experience, views and suggestions. Furthermore CCOE staff gave updates on latest developments at the CCOE.
It was intensively and also controversially discussed if and how civil and military organizations could and should work more closely together in such crisis situations.
At the end of the workshop the participants agreed that the motto was indeed implemented from all sides. Due to the fruitful discussions new projects and future cooperation between several organizations have been initiated already.
Colonel Roel Been stated in his closing speech: “I think these were two excellent days. I appreciate that we increased connections within our community, we all shared knowledge and opinions and everybody contributed to have a beneficial common workshop.”
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